Photos and documents
Automatic copies from your phone, shared family albums, file sharing with a link. On your own drives.
instead of: your photos in someone else's cloudYour own cloud · at home or at the office
Your data lives at home, with you.
Photos, email, documents, passwords, your smart home: it can all live in a cloud of your own, at home or in your business. Here I share how I did it myself, and how you can get started. No big tech companies deciding what happens to your data, and no subscriptions that cost more every year.
Written by someone who lives it every day. No ads, nothing for sale.
uze wolk · our cloud
West Flemish for "our cloud". One that belongs to you, and to nobody else.
Why UzeWolk
I wanted to know if it could be done: living without Big Tech managing my data. The answer is yes, for about 90% of everything.
For years, my photos, emails and documents lived with companies whose terms I had never really read. Until I asked myself: what actually happens to them? And what if tomorrow they double the price, or shut the service down?
So I built it myself. Step by step, at home. Today almost my entire digital life runs on my own devices. All with free, open software, and all under my own control.
It proves something few people stop to think about: open software can do far more than we assume. We stick with the big players out of habit, not because there is no alternative.
With UzeWolk I share what I learned along the way. So you can see what's possible, and take back control, step by step.
What your own cloud can do
Everything you hand over today can come back home.
You choose what you need. Starting small is fine; you don't have to do everything at once.
Your own email
Your own email address on your own server, with a spam filter you control.
instead of: free email that someone else reads along with youCalendar, tasks and contacts
Shared calendars for family or team, to-do lists and address book, synced with all your devices.
instead of: your life in an American calendarPassword vault
All your passwords stored safely and shared within your family or team, available on every device.
instead of: a vault in a stranger's handsSmart home
Lighting, shutters, heating and alarm working together, even without internet, and without your habits being sent to a manufacturer.
instead of: ten apps from ten brandsPlug-in battery and plug-in solar panels
Finally see what your plug-in battery and solar panels really do, and steer them smartly along with the dynamic electricity price. Charge when it's cheap, use power when it pays off.
instead of: the manufacturer's app, and hoping it's rightCameras and safety
Cameras recording to your own recorder, and smoke and CO detectors that instantly alert your phone, switch on the lights and start the ventilation. Footage and alerts stay inside.
instead of: your front door in a stranger's cloudYour family archive, digitised
Old photos, family videos on tape, your CDs and vinyl: digitised, stored in one place, and playable on every TV and device in the house.
instead of: boxes of memories in the atticSafe from anywhere
Your own VPN: safe access to all your data on the road or at a second home, even on public wifi. And the ability to help out remotely on a relative's or colleague's PC.
instead of: a paid VPN or remote-access serviceNetwork and wifi
Your own wifi covering the whole house, your own firewall, ads and trackers blocked, and separate networks for guests and smart devices. All in one overview, with no rented boxes.
instead of: rented boosters and your provider's security packageMonitoring and backups
Everything is monitored and backed up daily to your own devices. If something goes wrong, you're usually the first to know.
instead of: hoping for the bestHardware of your choice
Already have a PC, NAS or server? Then you can build on that. Buying something new? Pick something efficient and quiet, with no brand lock-in. Your choice.
instead of: a mandatory box from a single brandWho it is for
For families who want their privacy back, and businesses that don't want to be dependent.
Households
At home
- Your family photos stay yours: no company searching them, analysing them or using them to train its AI.
- One system for the whole family, instead of a pile of subscriptions.
- A smart home that keeps working when the internet is down.
- You gradually learn how your digital home fits together.
Small businesses and freelancers
At the office
- Business data under your own control, which makes GDPR a lot simpler.
- No per-user licence fees that rise every year.
- Email, files, calendar and passwords under one roof.
- No surprises when a supplier changes its terms or prices.
Get started
The software is free. You don't have to do it all at once.
Open software costs nothing. What takes time is learning how it works and setting it up securely. This is how I would go about it if I started again today.
Know what you have
Make a list of what you use today: which services, which subscriptions, and what you really need.
Start small
Pick one thing to bring home, your photos for example. Get to know it well before moving on.
Backups first
Make sure everything is on at least two of your own devices before you delete anything from the old service.
Stay free
Choose open standards and write down what you do. That way you can always move or replace something later, and you decide what happens to your data.
The foundation
Built on Linux and open software.
The same foundation most of the internet runs on, and that many of the big players build their own systems on. Stable, secure, with no licences and no hidden agenda.
you@uzewolk:~$ who-manages-my-data
you
you@uzewolk:~$ where-is-it
at home, on your own devices
you@uzewolk:~$ monthly-licence
0 euros
Let's be honest
One hundred percent independent doesn't exist. Ninety does.
A few things can't be brought in-house. I'd rather say so up front.
Your internet connection
That still comes from a provider. But you decide what goes over it, and what is allowed in.
Your domain name
A name on the internet is always rented from a registrar. The content behind it is entirely yours.
Notifications on your phone
Push notifications go through your phone maker's systems. The content of your data stays at home.
Do the maths
What do your subscriptions cost over five years?
Enter what you pay each month today. The amounts below are an example, feel free to change them.
extra storage from your phone or software brand€
word processor, spreadsheet, mailbox€
a copy of your PC or files with a third party€
together, for the whole family€
renting extra wifi boxes, internet security package€
footage storage, apps with premium features€
anything not in the list above€
Over 5 years you will have paid a total of
€2,819
in subscriptions.
per month€46.99
per year€563.88
And that assumes prices don't go up. With your own cloud, you pay once for hardware, and after that only a little electricity and your own time.
Knowledge base · coming soon
Knowing what happens to your data.
Short, honest articles about privacy, self-hosting and open software. No jargon.
What happens to your photos in the cloud?
From automatic face recognition to AI training: what is a cloud service allowed to do with your pictures?
What do the terms of service actually say?
The key sentences from the terms of popular services, explained in plain language.
Saving your videotapes and vinyl before it is too late
Why old tapes and photos deteriorate, and how to digitise them without losing quality.
Smoke and CO detectors that really work together
Why a detector that alerts your phone, switches on the lights and starts the ventilation is more than a gadget.
Contact
Questions, ideas or a story of your own?
Feel free to write. I read everything myself, and you'll get a personal reply from me within two working days.
hallo@uzewolk.be
Privacy statement
Your data, treated fairly
UzeWolk is sparing with personal data. This site uses no cookies, no trackers and no analytics services, and loads nothing from third parties.
Who is responsible?
UzeWolk, Kevin, Bruges, hallo@uzewolk.be.
What data, and why?
- Contact form or email: your name, email address and message. Only to reply to your message.
- Technical logs: IP address, time and the page requested. Only to keep the site safe and working, for example against abuse, and to count visitors anonymously. No IP addresses are kept in those counts.
For how long?
I keep contact messages for no longer than 12 months. Logs are deleted automatically after 14 days.
Where, and with whom?
Everything is stored on servers I manage myself, within the European Union. Your data is not sold, not shared and not used for advertising.
Your rights
You can always ask what data I hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, or object. Just send an email. If you're not satisfied, you can lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, dataprotectionauthority.be).
Legal
Legal notice
UzeWolk is a personal, informational website. No services or products are sold here.
- Website
- UzeWolk
- Responsible
- Kevin
- Location
- Bruges
- hallo@uzewolk.be
Content
The texts and design of this site belong to UzeWolk. You may reuse them with attribution. The information has been compiled with care, but is general in nature and not advice for your specific situation.
Applicable law
This site is governed by Belgian law.